1. Die Steinmühle
Die Steinmühle wurde 1303 als Getreidemühle von den Zisterziensermönchen aus dem Kloster Zinn erbaut und von diesen betrieben. Bis 1766 wurde die Mühle als Getreidemühle genutzt, bis der damalige Mühlenmeister eine Genehmigung zur Anlegung einer Schneidemühle (Sägewerk) erhielt.
1845 wurde sie wieder abgerissen und danach als Ölmühle wiederaufgebaut. Ende 19. Jahrhunderts wurde auf Dampfkraft erweitert und die Mühle zur Strohpapierstoff-Fabrik umgebaut. Sie wurde auch weiter als Dampfmühle genutzt. 1918 firmiert die Mühle als „G. Thiele Steinmühle“. Inhaber war Emil Gericke, der Schwiegersohn von G.Thiele. 1934 wurde die Dampfmaschine durch einen Motor ersetzt und die Mühle vergrößert.
I'm a die-hard South Tyrolean fan. During my many trips to this beautiful country, I naturally noticed the fortress just before Brixen, next to the motorway. However, this was used as a depot and barracks for the Alpini until the noughties. The fortress has been open to the public for a few years. It has even been a state museum since 2017. In addition to the usual fortress buildings, there are a few real specialties to see here. The lower fortress is with a staircase carved into the rock under the highway with the upper fortification tied together. From up here you have a beautiful view of the valley and the lower part of the fortress. The ascent is via an "infinite" stone staircase leading to 451 steps. In the beginning I didn't see the end. That was impressive and sweaty. But one wonders how people could survive in this cold granite without (visible) heating and sanitary facilities.
The fortress borders on a reservoir built in 1940. Individual parts of the building are partly connected with a modern bridge structure. The small neo-Gothic church on the site is also worth seeing.
The Franzensfeste is world-famous for its myth of gold:
Mussolini has 127.5 tons of gold in bars and coins, the reserves of the Banca d'Italia bring from Rome to Milan. Through his republic of Salò, a protectorate of Hitler, proclaimed in September 1943, the gold came into the hands of the German military administration, which bunkered it in the Franzensfeste. 23 tons of it were transferred to the Swiss National Bank in 1944. 79 tons of gold were brought to Germany by the Wehrmacht, of which only 4.3 tons could be seized after the war in Salzburg, the rest has been lost to this day.
The remaining part of 25 tons of gold was found on May 17, 1945 by officers of the 349th Infantry Regiment of the Fifth Army in a buried bunker on Franzensfeste. It was returned to the Italian state.
This bunker can also be viewed on the tour.
Briefly about the story:
After the Napoleonic Wars, Emperor Franz I wanted to build a defensive structure that would prevent enemy marches to the north and east. Due to the geographical location and the suitable geological conditions, the choice fell on the place Franzensfeste. The name is reminiscent of the "good" Emperor Franz I of Austria. The strategic location was of the utmost importance. From this rock spur above the Eisack Gorge you can see both the north and south The axis over the Brenner, as well as the path through the Pustertal, control perfectly. If the height fortifications were used solely for the storage of ammunition and for fighting, the accommodations were located next to the fighting areas in the valley area. Due to the choice of granite as a material, it was almost impossible to destroy the wall, as most of the grenades shattered on impact.
Between 3,500 and 4,600 men, mostly soldiers, were deployed throughout the construction. The farmers in the area were able to benefit from the construction through transports and food deliveries.
The fortress was inaugurated on August 18, 1838, but the last work was not completed until the end of 1839. Emperor Ferdinand I, 400 riflemen, war veterans from 1809 and high government representatives from Austria and Hungary were present at the handover.
The building with its enclosed military train station However, it remained unfinished and was never involved in warlike events. It was originally supposed to be armed with 90 guns and could accommodate a garrison of 1,000 men in the event of war. In peace, 70 soldiers were enough for the operation.
After 1930, the Italian army built new, modern small bunkers around the fortress to reinforce the barrier. From 1940 a new underground fortress was built at nearby Ochsenbühel, which was supposed to replace the Franzensfeste. However, from 1942 the construction of the fortress was given up due to the action of the Wehrmacht. The German SS is said to have used the fortresses as a depot for looted goods. In 2003 the Italian military left. The fortress was handed over to the state of South Tyrol. In 2008 the fortress was one of several venues for the European Biennale for Contemporary Art.
